OSLO(AFP): Norway on Friday launched a competition to develop a smartphone app to help Syrian children who are unable to attend school because of the war build basic Arabic literacy skills, the foreign minister said. ‘We know that Syrian parents are extremely concerned about their children’s learning and well-being. That’s why we want to develop this game-based learning tool, which can be used wherever the children are,’ the Norwegian Minister for Foreign Affairs Borge Brende said. ‘We also know that almost all Syrian households tend to own smartphones and the smartphone is a crucial tool for staying in touch with friends and family and for accessing important news and information,’ he said in a statement.